Every month, it seems there's another news story about the goings-on in space that just fascinates us. This time around it was the collision of two neutron stars in a galaxy far, far away. The collision happened, oh, about 130 million years ago, give or take a millennium. The light from the wreck is just now reaching the Earth.
The crash of the two stars, also called a kilonova, gave forth a great burst of gamma rays and something called a gravitational wave, and, according to the papers, caused a "faint ripple in the fabric of space and time," which once again proved Einstein right.
Fascinating, all of it.
But there's more. Turns out there's gold in them thar stars. So say the experts at NASA. When neutron stars collide, they produce rare metals, including gold.
This time around, those who keep up with these things say the galactic accident created $10 octillion in gold. That is, $10 billion, billion, billion. And some change.
We suppose the question is, how do we get there? And how many Brink's trucks will do the trick?
Editorial on 10/18/2017